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en-usTechdirt. Stories filed under "evo"https://ii.techdirt.com/s/t/i/td-88x31.gifhttps://www.techdirt.com/Thu, 11 Jul 2013 23:10:45 PDTActually, Nintendo Wanted Smash Bros. Out Of EVO Tourney Entirely, Which Is Really StupidTimothy Geignerhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130711/06053023763/actually-nintendo-wanted-smash-bros-out-evo-tourney-entirely-which-is-really-stupid.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130711/06053023763/actually-nintendo-wanted-smash-bros-out-evo-tourney-entirely-which-is-really-stupid.shtmlpulling its fighting title Smash Bros. from the internet stream of the Evolution Championship Series, before then walking back the request and allowing it after all. In that post, he noted that Nintendo appeared to be concerned, wrongly, that a stream of its game being played would somehow harm its brand, and that it was fan reaction to the move that caused its flip-flop. That all may indeed be true, but it turns out it wasn't the whole story.

Evo co-founder Joey Cuellar has revealed that Nintendo didn't just want to stop Smash Bros. Melee being streamed from this year's fighting game competition, they wanted to stop that part of the tournament taking place altogether.

"They were not only trying to shut down the stream", he told OneMoreGameTV, "they were trying to shut down the event, the Smash portion of the event".

That is even more insane. It isn't often you can take any real life lessons from the world of professional sports, but Nintendo might as well realize something: it's in the professional sports business now. Tangentially, sure, but it's in it. EVO is but one example of professional gaming competitions. The trends seem to suggest that the world of pro-gaming competitions, leagues, and tournaments is only going to grow, perhaps even exponentially. And if that trend does indeed play out, Nintendo better take a page from professional sports leagues and encourage the playing of its games, rather than trying to shut it all down.

There's a reason why Major League Baseball puts such an emphasis on building baseball fields throughout the country. The NFL knows what they're doing when they make sure they have a stake in Pop Warner football. The NBA has its players going not only around the country, but around the world to host basketball clinics. More people playing your game is good for your game. Good for breeding better players, for growing markets, and good for generating interest generally in the game itself.

If Nintendo was smart, it might consider market-testing its own gaming "stadiums" or competition centers, building upon the interest to promote its own games and encouraging others to do likewise. Trying to shut down the tournament? That's just stupid.

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]]>you're-a-sport-nowhttps://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20130711/06053023763Wed, 10 Jul 2013 02:37:28 PDTNintendo Pulls Game From Evo Live Stream, Igniting Backlash; Comes To Senses Mere Hours LaterTim Cushinghttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130709/19453423753/nintendo-pulls-its-game-evo-live-stream-igniting-backlash-comes-to-senses-mere-hours-later.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130709/19453423753/nintendo-pulls-its-game-evo-live-stream-igniting-backlash-comes-to-senses-mere-hours-later.shtml
Nintendo's adversarial relationship with its fanbase continues. Following on the heels of its colossally boneheaded Let's Play YouTube land grab, the company decided to yank its Super Smash Bros. Melee from the Evo (Evoution Championship Series) live streams.

Competitive Smash Bros. fans have been working for years to gain acceptance from the greater fighting game community. Smash Bros. is very different from Street Fighter, Tekken, and Virtua Fighter, but as many have said, it still is a fighting game, despite what some of the more exclusionary members of the FGC may tell you.

These years of effort have more or less paid off. After raising nearly $100K for Breast Cancer research, Smash Bros. Melee was set to be a marquee title at Evo 2013 this weekend. As the live stream phenomena has grown in prominence and popularity over the years, so has Evo's online presence. Evo 2011 was streamed by over 2.2 million viewers (still working on digging up numbers for 2012). That's more than Bayonetta sold in the US.

Instead of being thrilled its game was going to be featured alongside other prominent fighting games, Nintendo felt the best course of action was to "protect the brand," even if that meant the company's public image would greatly resemble a bootleg window sticker featuring Calvin peeing on a pink ribbon.

Needless to say, the backlash was immediate. A petition was posted at change.org asking Nintendo to reconsider its decision. Of course, Nintendo hardly seems concerned with the public's reaction to anything at this point, so it's kind hard to imagine an internet petition changing its mind. In fact, it's hard to imagine anything changing its mind, even vague promises to support the WiiU, issued with the same momentary earnestness as the pained vows to attend church more frequently that often follow long nights of hard drinking and bad decisions.

But, as hard as it is to imagine Nintendo walking back a "protect the brand" decision, it's actually a true fact.

Update #2: Nintendo has reversed its decision! They're now allowing Melee to stream at Evo this year. Though Nintendo has its share of old codgers that don't know how to internet, maybe this proves that their younger colleagues have the capacity to shake them into reality, and in just a few hours no less.

They say you can't teach old dogs new tricks. However, it appears the old dogs still have a healthy respect for the sting of the tightly-rolled newspaper social media outlet. Is this a sign that Nintendo is now a willing participant in its own future, able (and willing) to react nimbly to a wired-in fan base, with one hand on the Tweeter and one eye alertly watching hot social indicator wthrVane? Probably not. But it shows it's at least listening.

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]]>it-can-be-taught!https://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20130709/19453423753Thu, 8 Jul 2010 12:20:37 PDTBest Buy Says Creator Of iPhone/Evo Video Can Keep His Job; Guy Says He'd Rather NotMike Masnickhttps://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100708/04205510126.shtml
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100708/04205510126.shtmlwas suspended by Best Buy and told he was going to get fired:

Given the massive backlash against Best Buy for this move, it appears the company is backtracking quickly. Best Buy's CEO did a blog post saying the company had "completed its investigation" and Brian was being offered his job back. The CEO also points out -- as people did in the comments, that some of the original concern wasn't so much about the famed iPhone/Evo video (which doesn't mention Best Buy), but other videos he had done that had mentioned the company (which have since been taken down).

"(The company statement) is a 180 from what they were saying Thursday, but I guess me they either made peace with the videos I left up or decided the others weren't so bad. Here's a statement I'm issuing as well:

"Right now I'm planning on taking a leave of absence so I may survey my current career plans and the future. I'm not sure if it would be comfortable returning to Best Buy considering the circumstances, but I will definitely consider all options."